split duties

Last year, when FOX announced that Joe Buck (right) would add pre-game hosting to his play-by-play duties on the network's NFL broadcasts, the words "one-year experiment" kept popping into my head. I mean, think about how impractical having Buck pull double duty was going to be: every week, FOX NFL Sunday would have to go on the road, broadcasting from the stadium of whatever game Buck and booth partner Troy Aikman were working that week. By the last few weeks of the season, which found the show originating from its Los Angeles home base, you knew that the network was wearying of the constant road trips.

So it comes as no big surprise that, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the network gave Buck the choice to do one or the other next year, but not both. Wisely, Buck chose to stay in the booth. Curt Menefee, who ably took the anchor chair during halftimes, post-game shows, and when Buck was working the baseball playoffs, will be installed as the permanent host.